Sylvie Grey
Sylvie Grey was an officer in the United Nations Space Command Navy, active throughout the Human-Covenant War and known primarily for her decisive role as the captain of the UNSC Myrmidon at the Battle of Manheim. Early Life Sylvie was born to two sixth-generation colonists on the old and well-established Inner Colony, Peter's World. She grew up in the warm fields and cold praries of the planet, doing the hard work that is required on starter colonies. Her mother and father made clear their appreciation of their child, and Sylvie's time at home was among the happiest moments of her life. When she was seven, Sylvie's country homestead was attacked by a pack of shock cats, pumas that were brought from earth and which grew to a much larger size. During the ensuing fight, Sylvie's father was severely wounded by one of the large predators. Before the Grey family's neighbors reached the area and drove off the pack, Mr. Grey had succumbed to his injuries. Mrs. Grey struggled to manage the homestead's day-to-day tasks, and eventually sold the farm to an interested buyer, moving to the colony's capital with her daughter. Teenage Years Sylvie, too young to remember much about her father's death, was a popular kid at her local grammar school, and had broken many boys' hearts by the time she reached high school. It was during her senior year that the Covenant struck, sweeping past the planet's meager orbital defense grid and glassing most of the planet. The capital city was the first to be hit by Covenant plasma beams, and Sylvie's mother, at home while her daughter attended a party, was instantly killed. The colony's tiny detachment of UNSC Marines, out on a training exercise, managed to regroup enough that it could organize a defense of the panic-stricken evacuation. Sylvie and her friends were separated, swept up in the large crowd of people that were trying to flee the doomed world, and the teenager was picked up by the last of the garrison's Pelicans. Peter's World was only partially glassed by the Covenant battlegroup, but only forty-odd residents managed to escape death at its hands. Sylvie and the few civilians and Marines aboard the dropship were picked up by a UNSC task force several days after the destruction. After being treated for injuries caused by oxygen-deprivation, Sylvie accepted the UNSCDF's gracious offer of schooling at the Luna Academy, and attended the prestigious naval officer's academy for five years, graduating with honors as an Ensign. Naval Life After moving between several post-filling assignments, Sylvie was promoted to Lieutenant Senior Grade to fill a position on a UNSC frigate that was left vacant by a death. Strangely enough, Sylvie's first combat, working as the weapons-systems officer for the UNSC Once More Unto The Breach, was to be for her own devastated homeworld. The Human battlegroup, of which Once More Unto The Breach was a key member, jumped into the system expecting the majority Covenant fleet to have left. Unfortunately, this assumption was incorrect, and the battlegroup was massacred by the aggressive aliens. Sylvie's talent for plotting MAC trajectories was put to good use, and before the battlegroup was forced to flee she had racked up two kills: one Covenant frigate and a small fleet tender vessel. When the UNSC returned in strength, the fleet had moved on, leaving only two cruisers to defend the small garrison on the planet's surface. These escorts were eventually eliminated, but at a high cost: over half of the twelve UNSC ships were destroyed. Sylvie had to step in for the Breach's Groundside Small-Craft Coordinator, who was killed during the ensuing surface battle between the Marines and the Grunts, Jackals, and Drones left behind. Her actions during the campaign earned her a notation in her service jacket, and a recommendation for the Defense Superior Service Medal.